A consortium of L.K.Engineering, Frentech Aerospace, and Evolving Systems Consulting will design, manufacture, and qualify a complete Cargo bay Door control system for the Space Rider re-entry module. This system must be active, meaning that it will use special electric motors and sensors to run and control the mechanisms. This will allow the door to be controlled at will during the mission and ultimately to safely secure it prior to reentry.
L.K.Engineering and Frentech Aerospace will also supply the complete Landing Gear system for the Space Rider re-entry module - landing gear door opening mechanisms and the landing gear itself. Unlike the Cargo Bay Door, these systems are so-called passively motorized, that is, based on stored or external mechanical energy. All of these systems must survive the conditions of free space and repeatedly operate reliably over large temperature ranges and coastal atmospheric conditions. The Landing Gear system will be equipped with a network of sensors to help operators to accelerate preparation and refurbishment for the next mission.
One re-entry module will be designed for a minimum of 6 space missions, giving Europe a new range of options for returning systems and payloads from orbit. Until now, this option has been reserved for ESA only by Soyuz and Dragon spacecraft, and only from the board of the ISS
